1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a printing apparatus having a plurality of print modes and a plurality of paper feeders and relates to a print control apparatus and a method which is used for those apparatuses.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, print documents have been formed by various print media in accordance with various applications. For example, not only a print document is printed to a standard paper in order to form a document or the like but also a print document is printed by various printing apparatuses to an OHP sheet for an OHP which is used for reading of researches or the like, a thick paper such as a postcard, or the like. Therefore, even in a printing apparatus for outputting a document formed by a word processor, a computer system, or the like, a function to print the document by a plurality of media such as OHP sheet, thick paper, and the like other than the standard paper is provided.
As for those print media, since features such as thickness, concave and convex states of the surface, hygroscopic property, and the like differ, a printing process is performed in accordance with each print medium. For example, since the thick paper such as a postcard or the like is thicker than the standard paper, a feed roller and a conveying roller adapted to the standard paper are improper for the thick paper. Since the ink cannot be uniformly transferred depending on the concave and convex states of the paper surface, a character quality deteriorates. Further, in the case where the hygroscopic property of the paper is low, there is a fear such that the printed characters blot.
In the printing apparatus, therefore, by presetting the print mode corresponding to a desired print medium, the proper printing processes corresponding to various print media can be performed.
In the case where the printing can be performed by a plurality of kinds of print media, if only one paper feeder is provided, it is troublesome to exchange the print media. To prevent such a problem, a plurality of paper feeders are usually provided. To print to a desired print medium, therefore, it is necessary not only to designate the print mode but also to select the paper feeder in which the desired print media are enclosed.
However, there is a problem such that a desired print quality cannot be obtained in the case where the print mode and the print medium are not matched as in a case where the operator erroneously designates the print mode, a case where even if the operator correctly designated the print mode, the print media corresponding to the designated print mode are not enclosed in the selected paper feeder, or the like.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a printing apparatus having a plurality of print modes and a plurality of paper feeders, wherein it is prevented that the printing is performed by different print media, and the printing can be certainly executed in a desired print mode or by a desired print medium.
To solve the above problems, according to the invention, there is provided a printing apparatus having a plurality of print modes and a plurality of paper feeders and in which predetermined print media are enclosed in each paper feeder, comprising: means for designating a print mode; means for selecting the paper feeder; and means for detecting whether the designated print mode and the print mode which is available in the selected paper feeder coincide or not.
The invention also uses a construction having means for detecting whether the print medium corresponding to the designated print mode and the print media enclosed in the selected paper feeder coincide or not.
According to this construction, since whether the designated print mode and the print mode which is available for the selected paper feeder coincide or not can be detected, the print data can be certainly outputted in the desired print mode. Since whether the print medium corresponding to the designated print mode and the print media enclosed in the selected paper feeder coincide or not can be detected, it is possible to prevent that the print data is outputted by the different print medium.
According to the invention, since whether the designated print mode and the print mode which is available for the selected paper feeder coincide or not can be detected, the print data can be certainly outputted in the desired print mode. Since whether the print medium corresponding to the designated print mode and the print media enclosed in the selected paper feeder coincide or not is detected, it is possible to prevent that the print data is outputted by the different print medium. In this case, by tentatively setting the print media enclosed in the paper feeder, even for a printing apparatus without a function for detecting the print media, it is possible to prevent that the print data is printed by a different print medium.